Sybil Pischke is the acclaimed author of The Legend of Mammy Jane. Ashes of Roses and War is a companion novel and considered a prequel to The Legend of Mammy Jane.

It is the story of a strong woman, and life as our hearty ancestors who settled the wilderness experienced it, and tells the story of hardship, romance, and determination. Readers will surely enjoy following Jane Jarvis (Mammy Jane's future sister-in-law), a gusty eight-year old who follows her grandfather on his country doctor rounds. Told many times that women could never be doctors, Jane goes as far as threatening to marry the village idiot in order to follow her grandfather to a field hospital during the Civil War. Now a beautiful woman, Jane falls madly in love with a Confederate Major under the most unimaginable hardships of life in a makeshift war hospital.

There is laughter, tears, and many the surprise in Ashes of Roses and War, making this a rollicking page-turner to be remembered by all.ﾠEvery fast-paced page of Pischke's books are filled with action and adventure.

The Legend of Mammy Jane was based on the life of Pischke's grandmother, whose frontier home still stands. Both Ashes of Roses and War and Mammy Jane are memorable works that commemorate the spirit of pioneer women: those who survived the Civil War; those who nurtured and nursed their families; and those who eventually helped to settle the land beyond the Allegheny Mountains.